The incident was reported to the Leicestershire UFO Investigation Network who said on their Facebook page that a male witness spotted a “large pulsating bright red light in the sky” about the Jelson Estate on May 1.

The male reported seeing the possible alien spacecraft around the Hollycroft area at 9.55pm.

The witness stated: “I was just drawing my bedroom curtains when my eyes were drawn to an extremely vivid red light that was flying towards the east, very low in the sky - just above the rooftops. I opened the window to listen for sound, but there was nothing - just silence.

“I watched the object moving very slowly through the sky for about five minutes until it finally disappeared behind St Mary’s Church.

“I used my binoculars at one point, but the strange thing was that I couldn’t get them to focus on the object - even though I keep them ready for normal use and never have any trouble.”

Graham Hall, volunteer at LUFOIN, said: “The witness is a regular astronomer who is aware of what is in the sky so we are taking notice of what he is saying.

“One thing that is unusual is that he couldn’t get his binoculars to focus but of course he could have just knocked them in the excitement.

“It could have been an aircraft but it is unusual not to hear any sound. Red lights are often reported and they are common in the sky because they are on planes but it’s strange for it to be all red - usually there’s a green or white light on aircrafts too.

“We have investigated and we think it was about 500ft in the air - just above the rooftops.

“We want people to come forward if they have seen this aircraft or anything else unusual so we can investigate further.

“This way we can gather evidence and do some triangulation.”

For more information or to report any suspected UFO sightings go to www.lufoinregister.angelfire.com/home, email lufoin@gmail.com or call Hinckley 614013 after 6pm.